My refund was deposited to an account i do not recognize. How do I have this reversed and corrected?

[fanfare]

Was this account at your bank?

[mesquitebean]

Are both the routing and account numbers strange to you?

Did you choose to have any TurboTax fees paid out of your Federal refund?  If so, your funds go first from the IRS to a bank account set up in your name at an intermediary bank.   The intermediary bank is either Green Dot Bank or Civista Bank.  

We can tell you more about that process if you used that service.

Or did you choose to have the refund deposited to a TurboTax Prepaid VISA Card?

[nabeelashour]

I chose to have fees paid out of the federal refund - i don't know the name of the bank exactly but in reviewing the details on my downloaded tax return it is not my bank or routing number.

What details would i need to provide to get traction? I have tried calling the turbotax line but have not received an adequate amount of support to resolve. Only that i should keep waiting when the date the funds were supposed to be deposited was 3/4.

[mesquitebean]

As I said above, with that payment method, an intermediary bank is used, so the IRS sends it to the routing and account number at the intermediary company..  You should be able to search on the routing number to see what bank it is.  I'll tell you in an answer below how to check with the company that handles that payment  method.   You can even log in there to check on it or use the 24-hour automated line.  So first see what you find out at the SBTPG website.

[mesquitebean]

Oh, by the way, you said the date the funds were supposed to be deposited was 3/4.  Where did you get that date?   If that date was at the TurboTax website, that is only an estimate based on averages.  What does it say at the IRS website below?    Does the IRS website say the funds have been sent?   What is displayed here:   
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/Refunds">https://www.irs.gov/Refunds</a>

[nabeelashour]

I've checked both the IRS website and SBTG websites. Both say they deposited the funds on 2/20 … the routing number on SBTG is for UMB bank which i have no account or relation to.  I called SBTG and received no help.  My general thought is the banks should reject the deposit if the name is not right on the account - but maybe they just do a routing number/account number check. Who knows...Not sure how this error occurred but frustrated at the lack of support from both SBTG and TurboTax to provide a solution.

[mesquitebean]

Did you originally plan to have the refund deposited at a regular bank checking account?   You didn't by any chance choose to have it deposited to a prepaid debit card, did you?

Do you happen to have a brokerage account that uses UMB by any chance?    Have you spoken to UMB to tell them what happened and see if they can explain it?   If the deposit went there in error, they need to be informed about it, too.

I've also asked a TurboTax Moderator to look at this thread tomorrow.

[VolvoGirl]

I found this from an old FAQ

In some cases, tax refunds designated to be deposited into a Fidelity brokerage account will appear to have been "deposited" into UMB Bank.

Similarly, some tax refunds designated for a Charles Schwab account will seem to have been "deposited" to JPMorgan Chase or BNY Mellon.

In these 3 cases, the refund was merely routed through (not deposited into) these banks, who partner with the brokerage in routing the funds.

If your refund was routed through one of these banks, you'll see routing numbers 101205681, 071000013, or 031100157 when you sign into your brokerage account. However, your refund will be deposited into your brokerage account, not the bank.

[nabeelashour]

Hi - Just an update. I finally found a customer service agent who felt compelled to walk me through the scenario and the details. It turns out one of the prior commenters was correct and it was deposited to a Fidelity account via UMB. It's not an account i actively look at or monitor so that's why it was not noticed.

Thanks to the customer service agent for spending the time to walk me through it rather than punting.

[mesquitebean]

If you chose to pay your TurboTax fees out of your Federal refund, your funds will first go from the IRS to a temporary account at an intermediary bank--either Civista Bank of Sandusky, Ohio, or Green Dot Bank.  At the intermediary bank the fees are subtracted, then the rest of your funds are sent on to your bank (or prepaid debit card) in a second deposit.  The company that handles that is SBTPG (Santa Barbara Tax Products Group.)

Less commonly there can be delays at the intermediary bank, and additional ID info, etc. might be required.

If for any reason the second deposit fails (the one that is actually to your bank or card), it will bounce back to SBTPG's bank who will issue you a paper check in the mail.

Has the IRS released your funds? Check here:
https://www.irs.gov/Refunds

Once the IRS has released your funds, you can log in to your temporary account at SBTPG to see the status of your funds.

To log in, choose the taxpayer portal at:
https://www.sbtpg.com/

SBTPG has a phone contact page at the following link. It also shows their business hours.  Even when they are closed, you may be able to get automated info, or you can log in as above.

https://help.sbtpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/230084587-Contact-Information

[reidlskip]

Thank you! 
My refund said it had been deposited  with an account number I didn't recognize and a routing number [number removed]. Nobody including Chase could tell me what was going on. I just checked my accounts and It seems as you said, the refund had just been routed through chase to my schwab brokerage account.

[CamiJo]

I don't recognize my bank info on my tax return I think I applied for the turbo card how do I see which bank it is. 

[CarissaM]

It would be best to follow the instructions here to contact us by phone so we can look into this further. @CamiJo

[wzielicke]

Thanks so much! 

I was looking all over for Chase accounts and could not find any.

Then I saw this and looked it up.